


Matrix

by ultharkitty



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-29
Updated: 2011-12-29
Packaged: 2017-10-28 10:26:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/306906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ultharkitty/pseuds/ultharkitty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ultra Magnus muses on the Matrix of Leadership.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matrix

He’d never wanted the Matrix, and he suspected that it knew.

There was a difference, Ultra Magnus thought, between reluctant leadership and whatever it was he had displayed.

As he piloted their shuttle back to Cybertron – Rodimus dozing in the seat beside him – he wondered if, had someone else leapt to catch the Matrix, it would have chosen them instead.

Kup, Arcee, Perceptor, even Blurr. They had all been there at the last, it was only chance that Hot Rod had been standing in just the right place.

It had to have been chance; Ultra Magnus didn’t believe in fate.

He glanced at Rodimus. The Prime’s face was smooth in recharge, his worries temporarily forgotten. He must have had his sensors on high, though, because after a while he stirred and began to boot up.

Ultra Magnus could tell the moment that Rodimus’ databanks engaged, and the weight of Cybertron’s worries settled once again upon his shoulders. It was as though a tension spread through him, a subtle shift in his faceplates, a twitch of his fingers. It was uncomfortable to watch.

“Are we nearly there yet?” Rodimus yawned, stretching in his seat.

“Another four joors,” Ultra Magnus replied. “You should use that time to rest.”

The Prime shot him a grin. “I can rest when I’m rusting,” he said. “You wanna hand over the controls? Looks like you could do with some downtime.”

Ultra Magnus shook his head. “Don’t joke like that,” he said. If only he’d been worthy of Optimus’s trust, of his legacy. If only he had _wanted_ the Matrix.

It never should have fallen to someone so young.

“Sorry,” Rodimus said, suddenly serious. He slumped in his chair, one hand on his chest. His fingers scratched lightly at his pattern of flames, symptomatic perhaps of the same preoccupation that consumed Ultra Magnus’s thoughts. “It’s like Carly says,” Rodimus sighed. “You either laugh or you cry.”

“Wise words,” Ultra Magnus conceded, and couldn’t help but smile. Rodimus would always choose to laugh, and maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing.

Whatever happened, it would help them carry on. They had no choice. Cybertron needed a Prime; the Prime needed his solider.

And no matter what Ultra Magnus had wanted, the Matrix had chosen one of them, for good or for ill, and had gotten both.


End file.
